Eagles make a change to get winning formula back on track: Will philosophical shift produce wins?

PHILADELPHIA -- Losing consecutive games has effects in strange ways. The Philadelphia Eagles aren't used to losing back-to-back games of late, a feeling many in the locker room have avoided since the end-of-season collapse in 2023 when the team lost six of seven games to close the season.

This isn't 2023, but the Eagles don't want things to get to that point either. They couldn't find a way out of that losing streak until locker room and coaching changes were assembled. There's more than enough time in the 2025 season to right the ship.

A subtle change could make all the difference. 

"No more walkthrough Wednesdays," Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean said with a laugh. "Some players came with their helmet and said that to Coach [Nick] Sirianni. We gotta go. We gotta have pads on."

The Eagles were out in Wednesday's practice at the NovaCare Complex with the full pads on, to an extent. Sirianni created a walkthrough Wednesday over the past week in correlation to the early portion of their schedule. The Eagles had a short week in Week 6 due to playing "Thursday Night Football" on the road, playing the Denver Broncos at home in Week 5 before traveling up the New Jersey Turnpike to face the New York Giants in Week 6 three days later.

This is a common practice among NFL teams. yet it isn't common for the Eagles to lose games. Philadelphia won 20 of its last 21 games prior to playing two games in five days, losing once over the past 371 days before facing Denver.

The Eagles lost both games to fall to 4-2. They blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead against the Broncos and were destroyed by the Giants, who had a rookie quarterback in Jaxson Dart and a rookie running back in Cam Skattebo -- and no Malik Nabers. 

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This was the low point in the Eagles young season. Something had to change. 

"He probably was going to change it anyway, knowing Sirianni," Dean said. "It's not a big change. I mean, we went one week without it. But we lost two games and we was like 'all right, let's get back in pads.' There's a lot of superstitious people out there." 

This isn't the first time the Eagles have made a change to their practice routine until Sirianni during the middle of the season. Coming out of an early bye week (Week 5), Sirianni focused on the attention to detail aspect of his football team -- having more physical practices during the week that concentrated on tackling and the basics of the game. 

The move paid off, as the Eagles lost one game the last of the season. The loss was a game which Jalen Hurts left with a concussion in the first quarter, the defense had five takeaways, and the Eagles lost in the final seconds. That's what it took to beat Philadelphia last season. 

Could this change back to padded practices on Wednesdays have a similar effect? 

"Who said full pads? F--- off," Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata said with a laugh over in the direction of Dean's locker. "Let's be real. You guys got eyes out there. Half of us were in shirts, the others were in pants.

"It was a good physical practice. It was."

The Eagles took a lot of self reflection after a Giants loss where the physicality was in heavy favor of the Giants. Philadelphia is used to being the physically dominant team, but took one on the chin at MetLife Stadium last Thursday night.

"It's a good reminder," Mailata said. "It's a physical game and we have to be the aggressor. We have to punch first."

Having the three days off helped the Eagles it down and ponder where they wanted their season to go, and what they have to do to get things back on track. 

"It's always a good time to kinda reevaluate yourself," Dean said. "Evaluate yourself as a team, as an individual, as a unit."

The message? That's subjective depending on the player, but attention to detail and getting back to being the more physical team was the main focus. This is what got the Eagles to have their most dominant run in franchise history, two separate win streaks to win 20 of 21 games. 

"My attention moving forward is being the aggressor, be the player I've always been, and that's how I can help this team out," Mailata said. "I kind of took the time to really think about how each of us can dominate our box and do our job then the rest will take care of itself. That's kind of the message I've been saying to our group. 

"If we're in the gym, let's get a good workout in, let's put the work in. If we're on the field, let's get that work in and dominate. Just dominate our box."

The formula of having more physical practices has worked in the past. Sometimes it's better to go back to the old well. 

"I see a group out there at practice that is flying around," said Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. "Everybody's hungry. Everybody's in it."